Anti-obesity role of Aster glehni extract: in vivo and in vitro effects

Aster glehni (AG) is a kind of Korean traditional herb which only grows in Ulleung-do (Island), Korea. Although there are several reports on Aster glehni, the effect of AG on anti-adipogenesis was not officially reported. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether AG attenuates 40% high-fat diet (HFD)-induced adipogenesis in the epididymal fat tissues of mice. Male C57BL/6J mice at the age of 3–4weeks were divided randmly and equally into four groups; normal diet group, HFD group, HFD including 1% AG extraction (AG1) and HFD including 5% AG extraction (AG5). Experimental animals were fed with HFD for 7 weeks respectively. Compared to the HFD group, mice fed a HF with AG showed comparatively lower body weight gains, visceral fat-pad weights and lipid plasma level such as total cholesterol and glucose. Moreover, AG inhibited the expression of key adipogenic genes, such as PPARγ, C/EBPα, SREBP-1c, FAS, LPL, aP2, and leptin in the epididymal adipose tissues of mice fed with AG1 and AG5. In vitro, AG blocked the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in a concentration-dependent manner and suppressed expression of adipogenic relative gene such as PPARγ, the master regulator of adipogenesis. Taken together, these findings indicate that AG exhibits the anti-adipogenesis and anti-obesity effects and suggest therapeutic potential of AG in obesity and obesity-related diseases.